Joanna Davidson Politano is the award-winning author of Lady Jayne Disappears and A Rumored Fortune. Shefreelances for a small nonfiction publisher but spends much of her time spinning tales that capture the colorful, exquisite details in ordinary lives. She is always on the hunt for random acts of kindness, people willing to share their deepest secrets with a stranger, and hidden stashes of sweets. She lives with her husband and their two babies in a house in the woods near Lake Michigan and shares stories that move her at www.jdpstories.com.

Welcome back to the blog, Joanna. I’m so excited to have you here today. Congratulations on TODAY’S release, Finding Lady Enderly. I am sooooo excited to read this!

Thank you, Savanna! I’m so honored to be back.

What will you remember most about writing this book?

Ooh what a unique question! I’ll remember the thrill of coming up with twist after twist, fitting it all together, and changing it into something entirely different. Wow, that was fun! I’ll also remember searching for the perfect quotes from classic literature that was used in the romance thread of this book. Those made this my favorite romance thread yet to write!

Your cover is absolutely gorgeous! Can you name a few book covers that have caught your eye recently?

Thank you! All credit goes to Revell and the lovely cover model from Australia. You know, book covers are becoming fabulous lately—gorgeous and vivid. I’ve been drooling over Jody Hedlund’s “The Lost Princesses” covers and Jaime Jo Wright’s always capture the shadowy side of my imagination!

What is your most difficult writing obstacle?

Honestly, trying to do it myself. If a book comes easily to me, and the story is exciting, it ends up being sort of shallow because it’s limited by my own skill. It’s the hard books that—while they offer their own obvious obstacles—truly rise to greater heights. When my abilities end, that’s where I fall before God more often and He takes over—and that shows up on the page. I really can’t decide which is worse some days, a book that continually sticks and frustrates, or one that flows so easily that I don’t feel the urgency of falling before God.

Oh, that’s a great point. I love that perspective (and need to remember that for my own writing!)

Have you enjoyed any non-fiction books recently? I’d love to hear it. We can never have too many book recommendations. 🙂

I’ve read a lot of research books, and lately they’ve all been by Igor Guest (a remarkably intelligent ballet historian—guess what the next book’s about!) I also loved “It’s a love story” by Lincee Ray and I’m currently reading “Awakening Pure Worship” by Sonicflood’s Jeff Deyo—it’s spot-on! I’ll tell you though, what I really want to read is “Glorious Weakness” by Alia Joy!

A lot of those are new to me. I’m excited to check them out. Thanks for the suggestions!

What’s one of your favorite things about being an author?

Writing has sort of followed me along the path of my entire life, going up when I go up and down when I do. It has reflected the questions, grief, and excitement of that moment in my life, and more than anything it’s really taught me how to connect with God. We can do that in a lot of ways, but there’s something incredible about finding the way God’s uniquely wired you to connect with Him, and getting to do it every day. Aside from that, connecting with total strangers over God and fiction has been incredible!

I love that! Thank you so much for joining us today, Joanna. It’s always a joy to have you here. Is there anything else you’d like to add? Any upcoming projects you can share with us?

Of course! My next project is about a love letter discovered years after it was written, and it’s found by a woman who is especially fascinated by love stories—as long as they aren’t hers. It’s been a blast to write and the ending surprised me!

Ahhh, I’m so excited. LOVE your books! Have a great week celebrating your new release!

GIVEAWAY!!

Joanna has graciously offered to give away a copy of her new book, Finding Lady Enderly, to one lucky winner. Enter below and it could be YOU! 😉

The plot twist that took me by surprise was How the Light Gets In by Jolina Petersheim. I wanted to throw the book across the room! Plus it was the first time I’d read one of her books. Thank you for a great interview!